


Injuries Bringing Us Together

by androgynousclintbarton



Series: 25 Days of Kisses 2020 [23]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Both of them are hurt boys, M/M, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: Kakashi is dreading the next few days being stuck in Konoha healing. At least, until he realizes that he might not have to spend that time alone.Kiss: Palm Kiss
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Series: 25 Days of Kisses 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055207
Kudos: 30





	Injuries Bringing Us Together

_ Itchy _

There was an urge deep down inside of Kakashi’s soul. One that screamed at him to rip off the cast that the medical ninja had just finished putting on his hand after he had destroyed the last one. He was barely able to contain the urge with a reminder that the medical ninja had specifically threatened him with placing him off duty for a month as punishment if he had to come in again for another new cast.

A week was bad enough. If he had to stay in the village for an entire month he was likely to murder someone, and that would just get him into more trouble.

For the first time in his career as a shinobi, Kakashi was actually angry with an enemy because of what they did to him. Not for hurting his teammates, or putting civilians in danger. No, he was used to being mad at enemy shinobi for things like that.

Today though, he was angry about his hand. 

Specifically, about the moment that his enemy had decided to break his hand to prevent him from using his chidori to attack them after they had realized he didn’t actually need to weave signs to produce the electricity in his hand.

That he had a jutsu he could perform even with his hands tied behind his back. 

They were smart, he’d give them that. But that fact didn’t make him hate them any less when the biggest, heaviest member of their team stomped down on his right hand with all of his might, crushing his bones in an instant.

Really, it was a miracle that he had a hand left at all. That his bones hadn’t been reduced to powder under the force of that stomp, and that he had actually been able to force himself to produce a chidori even afterwards.

Though, that last part was sheer force of will. It had taken him 7 different attempts, and a lot of pain. His enemies had even laughed at him when they realized what he was trying to do.

They quickly stopped laughing when electricity started sparking in his hands, and by the time his teammates found him all three of their enemies were unconscious on the ground.

He still wasn’t exactly sure what he had done to manage that, since he had blacked out from the pain somewhere in the middle. Though he was guessing it probably had something to do with his chidori meeting the ground. 

That had been his plan after all, so his body had likely taken over for him when his brain decided to shut down because of the pain he was in. He was just thankful that his teammates had found him before the enemy shinobi were able to wake up. There was no doubt in his mind they would have forgotten about getting him back to Suna for interrogation and decided instead to murder him right where they were.

Not the best way for a shinobi to die.

“Rival!” He recognized the voice immediately, but there was something missing. An overwhelmingly enthusiastic tone seemed to be absent, and that didn’t sit well with Kakashi. He didn’t like it at all. 

Turning towards the voice he looked at the other man as he made his way towards him, and immediately started to scan Gai’s body for any sign of injury. His eyes zeroed in on the brace wrapped around his left bicep all the way down to his wrist.

Now he was worried.

“Rival, i was not expecting y-”

Whatever Gai was going to say was cut off when Kakashi surged forward, invading his personal space in a way he never had before and grabbing his left wrist and brought the injured arm up closer so he could take a better look at the brace.

For the first time since he had gotten home, Kakashi forgot about his own injury. His attention focused instead on Gai as he examined the brace. “What happened?” The question is simple but firm, and he knows it catches Gai off guard. It’s not normal for Kakashi to worry about anyone else when they’re in the village. Injuries happen to everyone. It was a common occurrence in the life of a shinobi.

But here he was, clearly agitated by Gai’s injury.

“I uh-” Gai closed his eyes and chuckled “I had a bit of a difficult mission with a much more skilled shinobi than I am used to. To win the fight I was forced to open the fifth gate for the first time and- well my body took issue with this.”

There was a reason he hated the eight gates. Ever since seeing Gai open the fourth gate for a mission, and had subsequently torn the muscles in his arm while delivering a deadly blow to their enemies abdomen. As useful as the gates were in a sticky situation, he hated seeing Gai in pain, and anything past the first gate always caused him some amount of pain.

Perhaps that was why Kakashi had stopped learning the gates himself when he had mastered the first gate, though he also didn’t feel the same drive as Gai to open all of them. Not to mention he didn’t think he could learn them all, not like Gai was able to. He didn’t have the same drive and abilities as Gai that allowed him to learn the gates, and part of him was thankful for that.

He had enough working against him with Obito’s sharingan in his eye socket. He didn’t need more help hurting himself from the right gates.

With his hand still clasped firmly around Gai’s wrist, Kakashi scanned over the brace once more. Trying to will it away in his own mind as if that would suddenly remove the injury from Gai.

“Kakashi,” Gai’s voice is soft and full of fondness when he says his name. “I’m fine. The Doctors said that it should be healed in a few days with a mixture of rest and medical ninjutsu.”

“Huh,” It was rare for both of them to be in the village at the same time any other day, but for both of them to have injuries that had them benched from missions for the next few days. That was improbable, and yet here they were. “I guess that means i’ll be seeing you around a bit more than usual.”

Not a situation he was particularly against. Though he was aware he came off as ‘cold’ and ‘dismissive’ of Gai most days, he really wasn’t trying to be. He just had a lot on his mind and it was hard to focus on anything but work and his own self deprecating thoughts when he barely had any time to breath between missions. 

Maybe with some time off together he could make it up to Gai.

“How about a challenge,” The hope of relaxing with his friend during his time off came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. Why was it that Gai always wanted to do a challenge when they were together? It was always the first thing that he asked for. “We could have a race.”

“With your arm?” Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “The doctors would kill you when you go back to them in worse shape than you left them in. Not a chance, Gai.” And that wasn’t even touching on the fact that his hand was broken and wouldn’t heal properly if he tried to use it in any way. Which did include running, unfortunately. Anything but keeping his hand at his side constantly would cause a fit of pain that he didn’t want to deal with.

“Ok then,” placing a finger against his chin, Gai started to think through his options while Kakashi continued to look over the brace on his left arm. There wasn’t really anything to look over a second time, but he couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from it. “How about an arm wr- no that won’t work.”

“How about,” Gai’s eyes lit up as soon as Kakashi opened his mouth. It was so rare for the Sharingan user to suggest a challenge for them. “Janken.”

There’s a triumphant look on his face when Gai’s shoulders whole upper body collapses forward as if someone has just set an unbearable weight upon his shoulders. He really did enjoy bugging his friend a little too much some days.

“I’m kidding,” well only partially. “We could do a challenge that’s not too demanding. One that won’t get us in trouble for straining ourselves when we are supposed to be relaxing.”

With new life in his soul, Gai straightened up and beamed at Kakashi. “An eating contest!” He proclaimed, loud enough to catch the attention of everyone within a five meter radius of them. “At the Ramen shop. We have not had the chance to get some ramen together in a long time, rival.”

Food didn’t sound like a terrible idea, and Ramen was certainly a better choice than some of the other things the pair had eaten together in the past.

“Sure, why not,” He could handle a challenge. Especially if it meant spending some time with Gai that didn’t involve running around the village or getting face planted into the dirt in a spar. “But you have to promise to stop eating before you barf this time.”

The last thing either of them needed was Teuchi kicking them out of the shop because Gai made a mess on the floor. It was one of the few places that he liked to eat when he managed to find time to go out with his friends. 

“I will make this promise, but only because i know i’m going to win this time,” As confident as ever, Gai threw his good hand out and gave Kakashi his signature ‘thumbs up’ pose. “And with this victory i will be two points ahead of you in our competitions.”

Ok, now he had to win. There was no way he could let Gai get too far ahead of him in their competition. 

“Mmmm, we’ll see,” releasing his grip on Gai’s arm, Kakashi moved to take a step back only to have Gai reach out with his good hand and stop him. “Gai?”

“I just realized that it might be difficult for you to participate in an eating competition,” Kakashi was about to ask what Gai meant when the Taijutsu user moved his hand down to his wrist and carefully lifted his broken hand between them. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but he had actually forgotten about his own injury while worrying about Gai. “Do we need to think of another competition, Rival?”

Warm.

There was a warm feeling deep inside of his chest when Gai asked that simple question with soft kind eyes. He couldn’t explain why the feeling had bloomed so suddenly, but he liked it. 

It felt like home.

“I’ll be fine, Turtle,” Using the nickname he had given Gai only a few years ago, he smiled when he saw the way Gai’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m ambidextrous. I can use my left hand to eat.”

Accepting the answer that he had been given, Gai turned his hand over so that it was facing palm up, and leaned down to press a kiss against the cast. Suddenly, the warm feeling in his chest blossomed into something else.

A feeling he wasn’t quite familiar with, but wasn’t completely new. It was something he always felt when Gai was being particularly soft with him, and he wished he could hold onto that feeling all the time.

Love.

That’s what Kushina-Sensei had called it the first time he described it to her, just days before the nine tails attack on the village. 

“W-we should go,” He cringed when his voice cracked under the pressure of his embarrassment. “We have a competition t-to do.”

Standing up straight, Gai released his hold on Kakashi’s hand and gave him a bright smile. “You are correct,” He stepped forward and threw an arm around Kakashi’s shoulder, turning him 180 degrees and heading down the street. “To Ichiraku Ramen!”


End file.
